Effect of Taurine on Experimental Facial Paralysis and Dry Eye in Rats

Year 2025, Volume: 27 Issue: 2, 118 - 122, 30.08.2025

Hacı Koç , İbrahim Koçak , Mehmet Tokmak , Saim Kale , Ali Gök , Serif Demir

https://doi.org/10.18678/dtfd.1612612

Abstract

Aim: This study aimed to evaluate dry eye development and the efficacy of taurine for dry eye treatment in a rat model with facial paralysis.
Material and Methods: Thirty-two rats were divided into four groups with eight rats in each. The rats in groups 2, 3, and 4 underwent facial paralysis surgically, while the rats in group 1 remained as controls. The rats in group 2 did not receive any treatment. Group 3 was treated with 0.2% sodium hyaluronate, and group 4 was treated with 0.2% sodium hyaluronate and 0.5% taurine. The results of the first and last Schirmer’s tests were compared.
Results: When the Schirmer’s tests were performed in rats with facial paralysis under general anesthesia to detect dry eye, the scores were low, indicating that general anesthesia increased dry eye in all groups. Thus, Schirmer’s tests were performed without general anesthesia. The final test results were significantly different between groups (p=0.001). Pairwise comparisons revealed that there was a significant decrease in groups 2 (p=0.001) and 3 (p=0.002) compared to the control group. Group 4 was similar to the control group (p=0.304) and had a significant improvement compared to group 2 (p=0.037). No statistically significant difference was found between groups 2 and 4 (p=0.566).
Conclusion: Taurine seems to have the potential to be effective in relieving dry eye symptoms. This could be related to the dominantly antioxidant effect of taurine. These results warrant further studies with larger sample size to determine the effectiveness of taurine for dry eye treatment.

Keywords

Dry eye , facial paralysis , Schirmer’s test , taurine

Taurinin Sıçanlarda Deneysel Fasyal Paralizi ve Kuru Göz Üzerine Etkisi

Abstract

Amaç: Bu çalışmanın amacı fasiyal paralizili sıçan modelinde kuru göz gelişimini ve kuru göz tedavisinde taurinin etkinliğini değerlendirmektir.
Gereç ve Yöntemler: Otuz iki sıçan her birinde sekiz sıçan olacak şekilde dört gruba ayrıldı. Grup 2, 3 ve 4'teki sıçanlara cerrahi olarak fasiyal paralizi uygulanırken, grup 1'deki sıçanlar kontrol grubu olarak bırakıldı. Grup 2'deki sıçanlara herhangi bir tedavi uygulanmadı. Grup 3 %0,2'lik sodyum hiyaluronat ile tedavi edildi ve grup 4 ise %0,2'lik sodyum hiyaluronat ve %0,5'lik taurin ile tedavi edildi. İlk ve son Schirmer testinin sonuçları karşılaştırıldı.
Bulgular: Fasiyal paralizi olan sıçanlarda kuru göz hastalığını tespit etmek amacıyla genel anestezi altında Schirmer testleri yapıldığında skorların düşük çıkması, genel anestezinin tüm gruplarda kuru gözü arttırdığını gösterdi. Bu nedenle Schirmer testleri genel anestezi olmadan gerçekleştirildi. Son test sonuçları gruplar arasında önemli ölçüde farklıydı (p=0.001). İkili karşılaştırmalar grup 2'de (p=0,001) ve 3'te (p=0,002) kontrol grubuna kıyasla anlamlı bir azalma olduğunu gösterdi. Grup 4 ise kontrol grubuna benzerlik göstermekteydi (p=0,304) ve grup 2 ile karşılaştırıldığında belirgin bir düzelme vardı (p=0,037). Grup 2 ile 4 arasında ise istatistiksel olarak anlamlı bir fark bulunmadı (p=0,566).
Sonuç: Taurinin kuru göz semptomlarını hafifletmede etkili olma potansiyeli olduğu görünmektedir. Bu, taurinin baskın antioksidan etkisi ile ilişkili olabilir. Bu sonuçlar, taurinin kuru göz tedavisindeki etkinliğini belirlemek için daha büyük bir örneklemde daha fazla çalışmayı gerektirmektedir.

Keywords

Kuru göz , fasyal paralizi , Schirmer testi , taurine

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